Printing FedEx shipping lable from home - weight?

not that precise and I would round down. They can always adjust it up if you're under, but this doesn't seem to happen much.

 

i used to do the bathroom scale thing, then i learned that it doesn't matter what you put, so i just put 1 pound for every box i send out. sometimes they correct it, most times they don't. i also used to put exact dimensions of the box, now i just put 6 by 6 by 6.

 

If you don't put the right weight they come to your house and beat you with a sock full of nickels, so it's important to be careful.

I don't get why people care about this. I've gotten 40-lb boxes labeled as 5. Every package I send out I just put "10". If your store gives a crap they'll reweigh it, if not then you save money. Just put something down.

 

You are way better off sending it from home. Setup a FedEx account online, and print the labels. You save money on shipping and you can get free shipping materials from them.

 

Yeah, I got my first trade in a couple weeks ago, it was around 12lbs and labeled as 3lbs....got through just fine. I don't have the marbles to go that drastic but I just shipped a 14lb box and put 10lb.

I'm a rebel like that.

 

Most people on here estimate low (or way low), which in turn leads to higher rates for me since I bring unlabeled boxes to the store. I've started adding this fact into my trade negotiations.

 

They care a lot more about the dimensions of the box than the weight. If the box is approx a standard 750mL case or smaller, you should be fine shipping with lowered weights, as long as you aren't shipping cement. Most of my 6 bottle trades are 6 pounds and my 12 bottle trades are 10 pounds, even with double boxes, extra sheets of cardboard, and packaging material.

 

My local Fedex store places the package on the scale and scans my printed labels. The receipts have actual weight on them. I did once send a 12 bottle shipper packed with bombers from SF to IN and I paid for a 5lb box. Take that, the Man!

 

Definitely shoot low. If they catch it, they'll adjust and bill you accordingly. Luckily all of my boxes for months have been going untouched.

 

The moment they put the ability for your average every day schmoe to do their own weighing, labeling and shipping the onus is on them to ensure people are doing so accurately.

 

You are right, but shipping beer is "wrong" in the first place... So I guess two wrongs actually make an affordable and shipped box of beer?

 

I don't have a scale and am a horrible judge at weight. It's as simple as that.

 

Where you dropping off man?

I'm getting killed on boxes recently. I sent a styo 12-shipper to WA and put down something like 20 lb, it weighed almost forty and they charge me over $50...

 

I fail to see how FedEx's employees not doing their job is my problem. And what would you have someone do when they don't have a scale?

Anyway, I'll shed a tear for the multi-billion dollar company being ripped off by a few beer geeks.

 

All FedEx/UPS would have to do is scan/weigh boxes as they go through sorting facilities, but the equipment needed to do so on that kind of scale is expensive...but they should have thought about that before letting people weigh their own stuff.

 

I've lately been scheduling pickups at the house, and they go through Exton. Other times I've seen it go all the way up to Auburn for some reason.

 

I find it easiest and most morally right(I'll touch on why in a moment) to put a minimal amount (I.E. 1 lb) rather than overestimate, or underestimate more accurately. I figure, if I'm going to be wrong at all, and if they're going to have to update it at all (which, given my lack of a shipping scale will be every box I ship) I might as well go with the minimum and let them handle the rest. I'd say about 7/10 times lately they've been updating the appropriate weight. Fine by me, its all the same either way. If you can't afford to ship a box at 20lb, you shouldn't be banking on the fact that it might get through at 1 lb. There are loss prevention associates employed at FedEx and UPS who trounce around their warehouses with handheld scanners looking for boxes that are labelled "1lb" or that look grossly underweight (also looking for boxes strapped to pallets or crates, which adds 100$, and so on), so rest assured, they are well aware of the problem and are actively working on it. I know because a good friends sister has this EXACT job at UPS and it keeps food on her table and provides her insurance and all the other good things a corporate job provides. When a box is flagged, there is another associate who is paid to pull and move it to a weight station. This persons job is a puller/picker. We're at least partly keeping these folks employed too. These workers are in fact on a quota system and their performance is based on how much loss they recover through incorrect weights/dimensions/pallet charges/etc... So in essence, by underestimating your shipping weight, you're providing a baseline for someone to have a career/job. Think of it this way, another box to be pulled and reweighed is done so in furtherance of prolonging someones employment. I know this reeks of backwards logic, but think about it. Its not the same as the "if i litter on the ground, or piss all over the stall, I'm keeping a janitor employed".. wrong.. along the same line but the negative effects in these cases outweigh the benefit. Putting an arbitrarily low weight hurts absolutely no one, except perhaps FedEx executives (if infinitesimally so). I would imagine they have a derivative instrument or insurance in place against the shrink lost due to these boxes, so they're likely all set anyway. Moreover- if they want to take the time to update the weight and adjust the bill accordingly, this is 100% fine by me and has been for close to 300 trades. As someone mentioned, we're already breaking policy by shipping alcohol, so on a base level, we are inherently guilty. The underestimating of weight is a much smaller detail and is factored into their operating costs. I apologize, but there is simply no way I'm pulling out a scale, or even guesstimating an arbitrary weight like 10 lbs. I will let FedEx handle it because this is what they are in business for - recovery of this sort is well known, and as part of their business model they are actively looking to mitigate it. Trust me.



TL;DR, every time you pull out your shipping scale and put an exact weight, a FedEx CEO buys new rims for his Ferrari and a baby otter cub is slaughtered.

 

@Mordor, Catch 22 with the TOS and alcohol and all, but I am 100% with you. You are not alone.

 

I am aware of this, but it's reminiscent of the classic shoplifting argument. "If people didn't steal, prices would be lower." But people do steal, prices are high, and they're never going down. Loss prevention is here to stay. If everyone stopped stealing today- or in this case, if everyone bought a trusty scale and weighed every package exactly- FedEx/UPS rates would not decrease, the Wal-Marts of the world would not simply 'rollback' the cost of an item based on the new-found honesty amongst the populous. Again, I know it comes off as backwards, but this example is a classic illustration of basic operations theory. If anything, they'd realize they no longer need these LP associates, and perhaps not so many order pickers either, and perhaps even the guy who writes the software or programs the scanner gun.. People get laid off, the executives bonus grows a bit, and someone plays a concerto on the world's smallest violin silently in the corner. It sucks, but we'd move on. Lets say this happened, after all the layoffs, would FedEx/UPS really stop their rate increase schedule? They've likely factored it into projected growth models years in advance, and there is no chance they're halting an increase of this nature because customers started taking more time to weigh packages. It would take years to show proof of a trend moving in this direction. I'm aware this is a slippery slope but just try to think about it from an operational perspective.

Bonus: Its more "fun" if weights are under because it gives people something to do. From the loss prevention associates, to the pickers, to the operations folks who write the algorithms to predict loss and so on. Even down to the janitor who sweeps up after the aforementioned workers. Its all in good fun, and its a great example of how businesses exist and operate in the USA. And it gives us something to talk about.

Cheers!